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Health as a Principal Determinant of Economic Growth

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  • Zon, Adriaan,van
  • Muysken, Joan

    (MERIT)

Abstract

For a long time economists have tended to ignore health as a relevant factor of production and important determinant of economic growth. The widely observed positive relationship between health expenditures and economic growth was considered the result of a strong positive income effect. However, gradually more and more economists have come to recognise that the relationship between health and economic growth is not only demand driven, but that health is also an important determinant of economic growth. The latter has mainly been recognised on the basis of empirical cross-country studies, starting for developing economies (see Strauss and Thomas, 1998, for an overview) and later also covering Western economies (Knowles and Owen, 1995; Barghava cs., 2001; McDonald and Roberts, 2002; Webber, 2002). However, until this day only few attempts have been made to present a coherent account of the causal links between health and economic growth....

Suggested Citation

  • Zon, Adriaan,van & Muysken, Joan, 2003. "Health as a Principal Determinant of Economic Growth," Research Memorandum 024, Maastricht University, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    • Handle: RePEc:unm:umamer:2003024
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    File URL: https://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/rmpdf/2003/rm2003-024.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John Strauss & Duncan Thomas, 1998. "Health, Nutrition, and Economic Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(2), pages 766-817, June.
    2. Muysken, Joan & Yetkiner, I. Hakan & Ziesemer, Thomas, 1999. "Health, labour productivity and growth," CCSO Working Papers 200015, University of Groningen, CCSO Centre for Economic Research.
    3. Gary S. Becker & Casey B. Mulligan, 1997. "The Endogenous Determination of Time Preference," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 112(3), pages 729-758.
    4. Don Webber, 2002. "Policies to stimulate growth: should we invest in health or education?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(13), pages 1633-1643.
    5. McDonald, Scott & Roberts, Jennifer, 2002. "Growth and multiple forms of human capital in an augmented Solow model: a panel data investigation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 271-276, January.
    6. Grossman, Michael, 1972. "On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(2), pages 223-255, March-Apr.
    7. Sherry Glied, 2003. "Health Care Costs: On the Rise Again," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(2), pages 125-148, Spring.
    8. Warshawsky, Mark J., 1999. "An Enhanced Macroeconomic Approach to Long-Range Projections of Health Care and Social Security Expenditures as a Share of GDP," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 413-426, July.
    9. Muurinen, Jaana-Marja, 1982. "Demand for health: A generalised Grossman model," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 5-28, May.
    10. Meltzer, David, 1997. "Accounting for future costs in medical cost-effectiveness analysis," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 33-64, February.
    11. David Meltzer, 1997. "Accounting for Future Costs in Medical Cost-Effectiveness Analysis," NBER Working Papers 5946, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Ehrlich, Isaac & Chuma, Hiroyuki, 1990. "A Model of the Demand for Longevity and the Value of Life Extension," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(4), pages 761-782, August.
    13. Forster, Bruce A, 1989. "Optimal Health Investment Strategies," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 45-57, January.
    14. Johansson, Per-Olov & Lofgren, Karl-Gustaf, 1995. "Wealth from optimal health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 65-79, May.
    15. Knowles, Stephen & Owen, P. Dorian, 1995. "Health capital and cross-country variation in income per capita in the Mankiw-Romer-Weil model," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 99-106, April.
    16. van Zon, Adriaan & Muysken, Joan, 2001. "Health and endogenous growth," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 169-185, March.
    17. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hongyi Li & Huang Liang, 2010. "Health, education, and economic growth in East Asia," Journal of Chinese Economic and Foreign Trade Studies, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 3(2), pages 110-131, June.
    2. Gong, Liutang & Li, Hongyi & Wang, Dihai, 2012. "Health investment, physical capital accumulation, and economic growth," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 1104-1119.
    3. LI, Hongyi & HUANG, Liang, 2009. "Health, education, and economic growth in China: Empirical findings and implications," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 374-387, September.

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